Anumana

Anumana, (
Sanskrit: “measuring along some other thing” or “inference”) in Indian philosophy, the second of the pramanas, or the five means of knowledge. Inference occupies a central place in the Hindu school of logic (Nyaya). This school worked out a syllogism in the form of an argument that goes through five stages: (1) the proposition (pratijna, literally “promise”), (2) the ground (hetu), (3) the illustration (udaharana), (4) the application (upanaya), and (5) the conclusion (nigamana). A syllogism is vitiated by a fallacious ground; this is called hetvabhasa (“the mere appearance of a ground”). A number of types of invalid grounds are distinguished: simple error, contradiction, tautology, lack of proof for the ground, and inopportunity.

Learn More in these related articles:

the systems of thought and reflection that were developed by the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent. They include both orthodox (astika) systems, namely, the Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-Mimamsa (or Mimamsa), and Vedanta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox (nastika) systems,...

in logic, derivation of conclusions from given information or premises by any acceptable form of reasoning. Inferences are commonly drawn (1) by deduction, which, by analyzing valid argument forms, draws out the conclusions implicit in their premises, (2) by induction, which argues from many...

one of the six systems (darshan s) of Indian philosophy, important for its analysis of logic and epistemology. The major contribution of the Nyaya system is its working out in profound detail the means of knowledge known as inference (see anumana).